[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 15, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8892-8894]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3491]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
National Park Service
[FWS-R6-R-2011-N211; FXRS1265066CCP0S2-123-FF06R06000]
Detailed Planning To Consider Additional Land Protection on the
Missouri River From Fort Randall Dam to Sioux City, IA; National
Environmental Policy Act Documents
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Interior.
[[Page 8893]]
ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS) and the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Department of
the Interior, as lead agencies, intend to gather information necessary
to complete detailed planning and prepare associated documents under
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its implementing
regulations, in order to consider additional land protection on the
Missouri River from Fort Randall Dam to Sioux City, Iowa. The FWS and
NPS are furnishing this notice in compliance with the National Wildlife
Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as amended, and the National
Park Service Organic Act of 1916, as amended, to advise other agencies,
Tribal governments, and the public of our intentions and to obtain
suggestions and information on the scope of issues to include in the
environmental documents. Special mailings, newspaper articles, and
other media announcements will inform people of the opportunities for
input throughout the planning process.
DATES: We are soliciting written comments and will hold public scoping
meetings in February 2012. Information on meeting dates and times will
be available at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/niob-ponca when that
information is available.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments or requests for more information by any
of the following methods.
Email: niobrara_ponca@fws.gov.
U.S. Mail: Nick Kaczor, USFWS, Division of Refuge Planning, P.O.
Box 25486, DFC, Denver, CO 80225.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nick Kaczor, Planning Team Leader,
Division of Refuge Planning, USFWS, P.O. Box 25486, DFC, Denver, CO
80225.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
With this notice, the FWS and NPS, as lead agencies, propose to
complete detailed planning on a joint comprehensive conservation
strategy and land protection plan (LPP) for the Niobrara Confluence and
Ponca Bluffs areas of the Missouri River in southeast South Dakota and
northeast Nebraska aimed to improve floodplain management. The LPP
would develop a proposal for a comprehensive conservation strategy,
including a plan aimed at enhancing wildlife habitat, increasing
recreational opportunities, and improving floodplain management within
the study area, by working with willing landowners to strategically
protect land through acquisition and conservation easements.
The Niobrara Confluence segment between Fort Randall Dam and Lewis
and Clark Lake is one of the last portions of the middle Missouri River
that remain un-channelized, relatively free-flowing, and undeveloped.
This area of the Missouri River's main channel in the old, wider river
valley contains important habitat for at least 60 native and 26 sport
fish. In addition, the riparian woodlands and island complexes are
important for approximately 25 year-round bird species and 115 species
of migratory birds, including piping plovers, least terns, and bald
eagles.
The Ponca Bluffs segment between Gavins Point Dam and Sioux City is
a diverse, relatively unaltered, riverine/floodplain ecosystem
characterized by a main channel, braided channels, wooded riparian
corridor, pools, chutes, sloughs, islands, sandbars, backwater areas,
wetlands, natural floodplain and upland forest communities,
pastureland, and croplands. This area also supports a wide variety of
wildlife and fisheries resources similar to the Niobrara Confluence
segment.
The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997
outlines six priority public uses (hunting, fishing, wildlife
observation, wildlife photography, and environmental education and
interpretation) that are to be facilitated on national wildlife
refuges, where compatible.
The river reaches are components of the National Wild and Scenic
River System as designated by Congress in 1978 and 1991 under the Wild
and Scenic River Act (Pub. L. 90-542, as amended). The National Park
Service is the river administering agency and is tasked to protect and
enhance the outstandingly remarkable recreational, fish and wildlife,
and scenic or similar values. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act specifies
that these river reaches shall be preserved in free-flowing condition
and that their Outstandingly Remarkable Values shall be protected for
the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.
Public feedback into the land protection planning process is
essential to ensure that the FWS and NPS include society's input into
the proposed project. FWS and NPS will request public review and
comment throughout the planning process.
Background
The Missouri River basin encompasses 530,000 square miles--
approximately one-sixth of the continental United States. The main
stem, stretching from Three Forks, Montana, to St. Louis, Missouri, is
the longest river in the United States, at more than 2,300 miles long.
Historically, the Missouri River was a dynamic ecosystem, characterized
by a changing interplay of open free-flowing, braided channel, sandbar,
prairie, wetland, and forest habitats. Although manmade structures and
activities have altered many of these natural processes, important
habitats still remain, for a rich diversity of plants and animals. The
dynamic nature of the Missouri River means that habitats change on a
daily, seasonal, annual, and long-term basis. Erosive forces constantly
transport sediment down the river, creating and modifying habitat and
removing terrestrial vegetation from some areas while creating suitable
conditions for new plants to grow in other areas. Seasonal river flow
patterns flood river-bottom wetlands and maintain chutes, backwaters,
and lakes in the floodplain that provide important wildlife breeding
and foraging habitat. The combination of open water, floodplain
wetlands, and river vegetation is particularly important for the large
number of migratory birds that use the Missouri River during spring and
fall migrations.
Despite significant alterations of impoundment and stabilization,
portions of the Missouri River have shown resiliency, exhibiting
numerous historical characteristics witnessed by Lewis and Clark during
their explorations in the early 1800s. The FWS and NPS will work with
local communities and willing landowners to conserve significant
stretches of the Missouri River. The opportunity to preserve and
potentially improve important processes and habitats for fish and
wildlife will provide benefits to visitors, neighbors, and local
communities of these areas now and into the future. The project
proposal is designed to improve conditions within the channel migration
zone, retaining those habitat characteristics important to federally
managed species such as pallid sturgeon, least tern, and piping plover,
while potentially mitigating flooding impacts in the future. In
addition, the project proposal is also designed to enhance recreation
opportunities such as boating, fishing, hunting, and camping, while
increasing scenic values along the river and protecting cultural
resources.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your
[[Page 8894]]
comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including your
personal identifying information, may be made publicly available at any
time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
Authorities
The FWS and NPS are furnishing this notice in compliance with the
National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C.
668dd-668ee) (Administration Act), as amended by the National Wildlife
Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997; the National Park Service
Organic Act of 1916, as amended; and the National Environmental Policy
Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations.
Dated: December 2, 2011.
Matt Hogan,
Acting, Deputy Regional Director, Mountain-Prairie Region, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service.
Dated: December 20, 2011.
Michael T. Reynolds,
Regional Director, NPS, Midwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2012-3491 Filed 2-14-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P; 4312-51-P